Iowa coach says team needs win

The Iowa football team is being described as unstable or fragile after dropping its third straight game against Indiana. Hawkeye coach Kirk Ferentz says use whatever word you like but his team just needs a win. Iowa visits Penn State this weekend and another loss would mean the program has gone winless in the Big Ten for more than a calendar year.

Ferentz says all he knows is they lost Saturday, the Saturday before and the one before after winning the first two. He says they looked like a pretty good football team 10 days ago, and Saturday they didn’t look too good. Ferentz says they may be erratic and inconsistent, but he hasn’t gotten the sense that anyone is ready to throw in the towel.

Ferentz says there is no magic formula to help snap the skid. He says they just need to worry about this week, as they’re hopeful and optimistic about winning this week. Ferentz says those who aren’t on the team or coaching might have a bigger swing of emotion, but the team will stay optimistic.

Ferentz says the team has had a great attitude and he doesn’t see that changing. He says they’re doing what they can to win this week, and says it will take a phenomenal effort. Ferentz says the Hawks have had too many breakdowns on offense and special teams to be successful. He says they have to play consistently on special teams, and they haven’t done enough of that.

Ferentz says they also need to make improvement on offense. Ferentz says the important thing right now is to keep the players focused on what they need to do to get better. He says he’s not ignorant to the fact that they’ve lost three straight, but he says they need to stay focused on improving and getting into position to play a game where they have a chance to win, something he says they didn’t do against Indiana.

Penn State has been difficult for visiting teams but the Hawkeyes have won their last four games in Happy Valley. Ferentz says they might want to borrow some previous clubs to join them, as they’ve had success in a great football environment.